Archive

I find that the most troublesome part of design with my clients is the art of accessorizing. We can always manage to get the “big chunks” (sofas, chairs, tables etc) in the room but the finishing touches mystify even some designers. One of the mistakes most of us make is we buy the accessories first because they are the most affordable pieces of the design plan.

Accessories are always the finishing touches and therefore should not be bought until the main pieces of furniture are bought and in place. How do we know what type of lamp to buy until we know what table it will sit upon. How do we know where we can place a piece of artwork or a mirror until we have the furniture arranged and in place. We have to put the furniture pieces in place to see the “negative space”.

When catalogs like these come to my house, I rarely get a chance to look at them. But I love Crate & Barrel catalogs, and it reminds me of one of my favorite SUMMER FINDS this year. For $19.95 I bought this large water dispenser from a Crate N’ Barrel outlet store.

If I had had more room in my car at the time, I would have picked up extras for my friends for birthday presents. It’s plastic, easy to clean, and perfect for a hot day of summer fun. We rarely buy soda (unless we’re having a large party), so water is the BEST for kids. My kids don’t complain. They love water!

If you find yourself taking charge of your relationship, imposing your opinions, and pressuring your spouse to do your bidding, you’re caught in the marriage power trap. The good news is you can change. If you’d like to improve your character by breaking free from this power trap, look inside my eBook, Parents in Love – 121 Dating Ideas. Here is an excerpt…
The Power Trap Story:

In Federal Way, Washington, a 23-year-old woman who had left her baby on a church doorstep has been sentenced to 200 hours of community service and a deferred two-year term. It’s legal in Washington to leave babies anonymously at fire stations and hospitals but not at churches.

In Medford, the mother of a newborn baby found dead inside a dumpster at hotel was recently indicted on charges of abuse of a corpse and concealing the birth of an infant. In Oregon, it’s legal to abandon an infant in its first 30 days of life at hospitals, birthing centers, physicians’ offices, sheriffs’ offices and police stations. Dumpsters are not a legal option.

And in Sacramento, California, a teenager left her baby with a stranger at a local bus station Even though the police initially reported that the teenager tried to “do the right thing”, the law says she can be arrested and prosecuted for felony child endangerment because the only legally recognized infant safe haven sites in Sacramento are hospital emergency rooms and fire stations. Bus stops don’t qualify.

TUESDAY, Aug. 25 (HealthDay News) — For every excess pound piled on the body, the brain gets a little bit smaller. That’s the message from new research that found that elderly individuals who were obese or overweight had significantly less brain tissue than individuals of normal weight. “The brains of obese people looked 16 years older than their healthy counterparts while [those of] overweight people looked 8 years older,” said UCLA neuroscientist Paul Thompson, senior author of a study published online in Human Brain Mapping.

Southwestern Oregon: A Great Destination For Families
By Erika Weisensee

Let’s face it, when it comes to our beautiful state, a few places seem to garner the lion’s share of attention in travel publications. The Columbia River Gorge, Mt. Hood, and often written about towns like Astoria certainly deserve accolades. But, as I was recently reminded, scenic beauty, entertainment and family fun abound in every quadrant of Oregon. Families seeking adventure, affordable fun and breathtaking scenery should head to Southwestern Oregon.

Last week, my husband, Alex, and our almost 3-year-old son, Owen, had a lovely two-day getaway in Florence, Oregon.

Several recent articles have interviewed women who leave their kids in search of the reasons why.
By Traci Scott,Portland writer

An intriguing and provocative story in Marie Claire details a new trend: mothers who voluntarily decide to relinquish custody of their children in order to pursue other life goals. Just reading that title, “What Kind of Mother Leaves her Kids?” hits a nerve with many people. It pierces your heart and strikes a chord. After all, don’t good moms place protecting and nurturing their children above all else?

The article portrays three women who, for various reasons, decided to give up custody of their children to their ex-husbands. What they all have in common is that they faced judgment from others who can’t understand why or how a mother could possibly make this choice. The article has created controversy and has generated a multitude of reactions, with many people responding as if motherhood itself was being threatened

HealthDay News – When it comes to surviving cancer, separation from your spouse appears to be worse for your health than divorce or even widowhood, a new study suggests. In contrast, being married — or never married — seems to improve your odds the most. An analysis of the records of nearly 3.8 million cancer patients found that married people fared the best after being diagnosed with cancer, while separated spouses were about one-third less likely to survive for a decade.

Question: My husband travels a lot for business, so we end up spending a lot of time apart. Sometimes I worry about that…what can we do to keep our marriage healthy?

Answer: The answer is to place safeguards around your marriage. Any marriage needs to have healthy safeguards in place, regardless of if there is travel or not. The divorce rate is over 50% for marriages, and I would venture to say that no couple standing in front of one another pledging their marriage vows wants to fall into that category. Yet the majority of couples do not try to protect or put appropriate boundaries around their union.